Why I’m Optimistic about Jeff Smisek Leading United Airlines

I missed United Airlines’ new President and CEO Jeff Smisek by about ten minutes at the Family Day event at SFO on Sunday, but I was impressed to hear that he spent time mingling with the crowd after delivering a short speech. Can you imagine Glenn Tilton doing that?

Smisek seems to be well-regarded by Continental employees, but it is far from clear whether he will be able to alter the attitudes of many disgruntled UA employees. Perhaps, though, there is room for more optimism than I am currently willing to concede. This anecdote (excerpted below), from GlencoeGuy on Flyertalk, caught my attention:

So, as my wife and I are waiting to fly back to Chicago yesterday (Oct. 10) from a nice long weekend in the Wine Country, who should walk up to our gate and board our flight (UA886, SFO-ORD) than the new United CEO, Jeff Smisek. Recognized him from his video intro before the safety stuff that started playing a couple of weeks ago on my weekly ORD-PHL RTs.

As I was boarding, I joked with a flight attendant that they must be a bit nervous to have the boss on the flight. One said immediately, "Oh no, not a bit. We like this guy."…

During the flight, my wife came up to my row and mentioned that she was talking to Mr. Smisek in the back of plane. He was apparently hanging out with the FAs in the back galley and chatting up some of the passengers waiting to use the bathroom (UA 886 was an Airbus320). My wife, a CIO, of course had to ask about which legacy website would move forward, CO or UA? Looks like CO’s will be the one because its platform is more advanced technologically…

Mr. Smisek was still in the back when I got up to answer nature’s call a little while later, and he introduced himself and was very pleasant and congenial…He talked for quite a while with the FAs, and he was involved in a very animated discussion with them…

I am impressed. Very impressed. Maybe Glen Tilton was friendly with the crews when he flew, but you have to admire a leader who will hang out in the rear galley and listen to the concerns of his employees and customers. The FA’s attitude ("we like this guy") may be premature, but based on Smisek’s track record, he appears to be laying the foundation to substantially lift employee morale.

Other factors will play in, among them economic conditions and most importantly labor negotiations as contracts come up for removal, but the disconnect over the workers and management at United under Tilton’s helm was not just about pay cuts–it was about a perceived lack of respect.

The anecdote above suggests that Smisek is already laboring to patch up the lack of trust that persists at United. That’s a good sign for all of us.

About Author

Matthew

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he
travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 120
countries over the last decade. Working both in the aviation industry
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I liked that he swore during his speech at the Family Day event… something to the effect of “… we’re building a bad-ass airline!” I honestly like that he adds a little flare of personality in there vs. being uber-CEO.